Whalen enjoyed coming back home and coaching for a few hours this past week at a Lynx youth basketball clinic.

“It’s great to come back and see the next generation of players and see how players are really getting better,” said Whalen. “We didn’t do a lot of these drills back when I was their age. So, that fact that they are doing hard drills where it’s really difficult, really challenging, it’s really great because everybody’s only to get better.”

The young players were really excited about meeting someone they shared a close connection to….

“It’s just amazing that you have a person from your hometown, even if they went to your school, playing professional basketball,” said 12-year-old Megan Gertgen.

As a professional athlete, Whalen knows that she’s going to be in the spotlight and feels a sense of responsibility — on and off the court.

“The fact that I can be, you know, somewhat of a role model for people nowadays is really cool and just happy to be able to do that,” said Whalen.

Mark Rosen is WCCO-TV's sports director, anchor and reporter. Mark joined WCCO-TV as a high school junior at St. Louis Park and was hired full time while attending the University of Minnesota. As time went on, he was promoted to weekend sports anchor...